Computer help forum: Strange crashes

I experience some strange crashes. They appear strange because they are different and seemingly random.

For a period of time, I have tried to fix the issues - some of them are gone: one was caused by the monitor. I reformatted my C drive (I didn't reformat my secondary hard drive, which still contains some junk)

But the computer still crashes. I have experienced that the image suddenly freezes completely, and if sound was playing at the moment, it warps completely and noisily (sounds scary actually). It's hard for me to see any connection between the freeze and the thing I was doing on the computer. Sometimes I see the blue screen after such a freeze, and afterwards, the computer might have trouble booting. Then sometimes, while booting, I notice the monitor resolution is very low, and most oddly, there are visual anomalies also. They are red or green, and they appear "systematically", like patterns. here there is a link to a picture that shows such an anomaly:http://www.mediafire.com/view/?u7wfj3b7a0rtobw

A few times, a message appears when the computer finally boots succesfully. the latest crash, today, annoyed me beyond sanity, and now I have signed up to this forum. I saved the info from the message:

Now, looking on the internet for a solution, I came across a command that starts a reliability test "perfmon /rel"

Here I get a list of the crashes there has been since christmas where i reformatted.The crash from ealier today is listed like this:

Windows stopped working at 13.46Video hardware error at 13.46Video hardware error at 13.46Video hardware error at 13.46Video hardware error at 13.46Video hardware error at 13.46Video hardware error at 13.46Shut down unexpectedly at 13.47Windows was not properly shut down at 13.52

Problem: Video hardware errorFiles that help describe the problem:WD-20130104-0402.dmpsysdata.xmlWERInternalMetadata.xml

Files that help describe the problem:WD-20121230-0010.dmpsysdata.xmlWERInternalMetadata.xml

Files that help describe the problem:WD-20121229-2211.dmpsysdata.xmlWERInternalMetadata.xml

I don't know if the little variations matter or if its just the same. It seems to be a problem with my graphics card, but I would like to know if the problem could lie elsewhere. I wouldnt buy a new graphics card unless I'm sure. Please help me solving this issue. I'm soon going crazy from trying to figure out this problem myself.

Do you have the driver from the manufacturer, or did you get it from some other place like maybe Windows Update? I've seen people have video problems when they don't get the drivers from the manufacturer of the computer if the graphics card came with the computer or the card's manufacturer if it was bought separately. One test you could try if your computer has an integrated video facility would be to remove your graphics card and enable the integrated video to see if the problem goes away.

I have downloaded new drivers from Nvidia several times, and I even tried installing older ones, but it does not seem to change anything. Another odd thing that I forgot to mention:I have two monitors connected to my computer at the moment. When the computer crashed today, my main monitor didn't respond as if no signal came from the graphics card, I tried to reboot, but it still didn't respond. I heard Windows starting through my speakers. I disconnected the monitor, and the secondary monitor responds and works with no problem?!These crashes occured also long before I had two monitors. And it crashes with both monitors as primary monitor.When I mention that its hard for me to see a connection between what I'm doing at the time of the shutdown, it's because it seems not to have anything to do with high end video games. It sometimes crashes just at the desktop when none or few programs are open.Could it have anything to do with the motherboard?Could it be a virus?

I am running Windows 7 64 bit on a 4 and a half year old computer with an intel motherboard withIntel duo core E85008 gb ramGeforce 9800GTX

Windows is installed on an old 200 GB hard driveA newer 1TB hard drive is used for multimedia

When I encounter this combination I'm ripping the cover off to clean out all the dust and REPLACE THE HEAT SINK COMPOUND. Your consumer rarely knows about the heat sink compound issue. It dries out and you need to get in there to make sure it's all clean and the heat sinks are in their place with FRESH HEAT SINK COMPOUND.

2. The 9800 video card.

The 8800 and 9800 cards appear too often to be a source of this issue. For a cranky machine we do the work in item one (I do mean ALL HEAT SINKS and ALL COMPOUND) then if it's still cranky we look at the PSU.

3. The PSU must be a monster. Why?

Because they degrade with time we want a PSU with a rating double that of what we figure to be the maximum draw.Bob

Is there anything I could try to prevent these crashes? Like installing a new CPU cooler or the like?Its just super annoying to realise that I have to pay the full price when my PC is still half alive.

I've seen this on Youtube or such but your story omitted words about the PC or what it was doing at the time. Let me be blunt here that all the dump information is fine but rarely useful. Tell more.Bob

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Track this thread and email me when there are updates.Please read before posting

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If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem. Also please exercise your best judgment when posting in the forums--revealing personal information such as your e-mail address, telephone number, and address is not recommended.

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